1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sound insulating arrangement for a vehicle including a gear shift lever extending through an aperture formed in the floor panel of the vehicle for preventing direct travel of sounds created below the floor panel into the passenger compartment thereof through the aperture.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In vehicles such as motor vehicles, the gear shift lever has its lower end connected through a link mechanism to a speed change gear and extends upward into the passenger compartment through an aperture formed in the floor panel near the driver's seat. The aperture is relatively large for freedom of movement of the gear shift lever and thus sounds created below the floor panel due to engine vibrations and impacts exerting on the vehicle body will directly travel into the compartment through the aperture. Such sounds can be insulated to some extent, although to an insufficient extent, by a shift lever boot normally provided to cover the aperture for the purpose of good appearance and safety driving.
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional structure which has been proposed in order to prevent direct travel of sounds into the compartment with greater efficiency. The structure comprises a sound insulating plate a interposed between the shift lever booth b and the floor panel c so as to close the aperture d without any restricted freedom of movement of the gear shift lever. However, such a conventional sound insulating arrangement requires separated drilling operations and mounting parts such as a bracket and lock screws, which results in poor manufacturing and assembly efficiency and high cost. That is, the sound insulating plate a should be formed at its corners or periphery with mounting holes e and secured to the floor panel c together with the shift lever boot b by means of through screws f.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore one object of the prsent invention to provide an improved sound insulating arrangement which will be free from the above-mentioned and other disadvantages of the prior art arrangement.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved sound insulating arrangement which will be easy to assemble and low in manufacturing cost.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the fllowing detailed description of one exemplary embodiment of the invention.